April 30, 2010

WU to Represent MIAA at Women's Tennis NCAAs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – MIAA tournament champion Washburn will represent the league in the 2010 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championships, the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Tennis Committee announced.

There are 16 preliminary-round tournaments, which will be conducted May 6-7, 7-8 or 6-8 with the winner of each preliminary-round tournament advancing to the finals in Altamonte Springs, Florida, hosted by the Central Florida Sports Commission and Rollins College, May 12-15.

The championships consist of a 16-team single elimination tournament. Each of the following eight regions will conduct two preliminary-round tournaments: Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West. The selection of teams for the championships is based on prescribed criteria listed in the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Tennis Championships Handbook and approved by the NCAA Division II Championships Committee.

For information pertaining to teams, dates and sites, please visit the NCAA Web site www.NCAA.com for regional brackets.

Twenty-one conferences receive automatic qualification into the 2010 women's championships. Each conference and its automatic qualifier is listed below:

California Collegiate Athletic Association – University of California, San Diego
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference – Concordia College (New York)
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Shaw University
Conference Carolinas – Erskine College
East Coast Conference – Queens College (New York)
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Northwood University (Michigan)
Great Lakes Valley Conference – Drury University
Gulf South Conference – Valdosta State University
Heartland Conference – University of the Incarnate Word
Lone Star Conference – Abilene Christian University
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association – Washburn University of Topeka
Northeast-10 Conference – Southern New Hampshire University
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference – St. Cloud State University
Pacific West Conference – Brigham Young University, Hawaii
Peach Belt Conference – Armstrong Atlantic State University
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – California University of Pennsylvania
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – University of Nebraska at Kearney
South Atlantic Conference – Lincoln Memorial University
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Albany State University (Georgia)
Sunshine State Conference – Barry University
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – West Virginia Wesleyan College

In the finals of the 2009 championships, Armstrong Atlantic State University earned is second straight national championship by defeating Lynn, 5-2. This marked the fifth overall championship title for the Lady Pirates.

For more information regarding the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championships, log on to www.NCAA.com.

Regional Brackets (Hosted By):

Atlantic #1 - (California (Pa.))

Atlantic #2 - (Slippery Rock)

Central #1 - (St. Cloud St.)

Central #2 - (Neb.-Kearney)

East #1 - (Stonehill)

East #2 - (Queens (N.Y.))

Midwest #1 - (Northwood (Mich.))

Midwest #2 - (Drury)

South #1 - (Barry)

South #2 - (Lynn)

South Central #1 - (Abilene Christian)

South Central #2 - (Northeastern St.)

Southeast #1 - (Armstrong Atlantic St.)

Southeast #2 - (Clayton St.)

West - (Hawaii Pacific and BYU-Hawaii)

16-Team Championship Bracket